My oldest who is 14 has a savage bolt hmr .17, Rem. .22 and a Ruger air rifle. My 11 yr. old daughter loves to shoot her 22/45 when I take it out of the safe and we go to the range and my 8 yr. old has a ruger 10/22 which he enjoys shooting.
I have just taught them the rules of shooting and gun safety from the time they could talk. Nothing wrong with a nice firearm for Christmas.
I grew up with guns. Got my first hand-me-down Daisy BB gun when I was about 6. My 2 older brothers worn it out! It was so weak the BB would fall on the ground about 10 feet from the barrel. LOL! Boy-o-boy I had fun with it though.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with teaching kids how to shoot and handle guns responsibly. In fact it is a skill that may serve them well in the all too near future.